Revelation 10 KJV
The Angel and the Little Scroll
Revelation Chapter 10: The Angel and the Little Scroll
The angel's posture with one foot on the sea and one on the land deliberately echoes ancient Near Eastern depictions of deities claiming cosmic dominion, here applied to signal that the final prophetic sequence encompasses both Gentile chaos and Israel's covenant territory.
1nd I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
10 And I took the little book out of the angelโs hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
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Did You Know?
The angel's posture with one foot on the sea and one on the land deliberately echoes ancient Near Eastern depictions of deities claiming cosmic dominion, here applied to signal that the final prophetic sequence encompasses both Gentile chaos and Israel's covenant territory.
The sealed utterances of the seven thunders create a deliberate counterpoint to the opened seals and trumpets, underscoring that apocalyptic disclosure remains partial and that certain divine judgments stay hidden even from the seer himself.
John's ingestion of the little scroll reenacts Ezekiel 3 yet inverts its outcome: whereas Ezekiel experiences uniform sweetness, Revelation's prophet tastes honey followed by bitterness, highlighting the added cost of announcing judgments already set in motion by the Lamb's opening of the larger scroll.
The oath sworn by the angel 'that there should be time no longer' functions as an allusion to Daniel 12:7, transforming the earlier prophet's sealed timeline into an imminent unrolling where the 'mystery of God' reaches completion at the seventh trumpet rather than at the absolute end of history.
The rainbow upon the angel's head links the Noahic covenant sign directly to the throne-room theophany of Revelation 4, presenting the impending judgments not as arbitrary wrath but as the faithful execution of God's remembered promise to restrain total destruction until redemption is accomplished.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain another mighty angel โ as distinguished from the mighty angel who asked as to the former and more comprehensive book (Re 5:2), "Who is worthy to open the book?" clothed with a clouโฆ
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Revelation 10 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: Vision of the little book.
- 1
- another mighty angel โ as distinguished from the mighty angel who asked as to the former and more comprehensive book (Re 5:2), "Who is worthy to open the book?" clothed with a cloud โ the emblem of God coming in judgment. a โ A, B, C, and Aleph read "the"; referring to (Re 4:3) the rainbow already mentioned. rainbow upon his head โ the emblem of covenant mercy to God's people, amidst judgments on God's foes. Resumed from Re 4:3 (see on Re 4:3). face as... the sun โ (Re 1:16; 18:1). feet as pillars of fire โ (Re 1:15; Eze 1:7). The angel, as representative of Christ, reflects His glory and bears the insignia attributed in Re 1:15, 16; 4:3, to Christ Himself. The pillar of fire by night led Israel through the wilderness, and was the symbol of God's presence.
- 2
- he had โ Greek, "Having." in his hand โ in his left hand: as in Re 10:5 (see on Re 10:5), he lifts up his right hand to heaven. a little book โ a roll little in comparison with the "book" (Re 5:1) which contained the whole vast scheme of God's purposes, not to be fully read till the final consummation. This other, a less book, contained only a portion which John was now to make his own (Re 10:9, 11), and then to use in prophesying to others. The New Testament begins with the word "book" (Greek, "biblus"), of which "the little book" (Greek, "biblaridion") is the diminutive, "the little bible," the Bible in miniature. upon the sea... earth โ Though the beast with seven heads is about to arise out of the sea (Re 13:1), and the beast with two horns like a lamb (Re 13:11) out of the earth, yet it is but for a time, and that time shall no longer be (Re 10:6, 7) when once the seventh trumpet is about to sound; the angel with his right foot on the sea, and his left on the earth, claims both as God's, and as about soon to be cleared of the usurper and his followers.
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